f a sentence usually comes last
(if at all), as for example, "By a rough road yesterday came John,"
instead of, "John came by a rough road yesterday."

And this, of course, is but one illustration of thousands that might
be given to justify my title, "The Land of Upside Down," the land of
contradictions to all our Occidental ideas. That {4} Japan is a land
"where the flowers have no odor and the birds no song" has passed into
a proverb that is almost literally true; and similarly, the far-famed
cherry blossoms bear no fruit. The typesetters I saw in the _Kokumin
Shimbum_ office were singing like birds, but the field-hands I saw at
Komaba were as silent as church-worshippers. The women carry children
on their backs and not in their arms. The girls dance with their
hands, not with their feet, and alone, not with partners. An ox is
worth more than a horse. The people bathe frequently, but in dirty
water. The people are exceptionally artistic, yet the stone "lions" at
Nikko Temple look as much like bulldogs as lions. A man's birthday is
not celebrated, but the anniversary of his death is. The people are
immeasurably polite, and yet often unendurably cocky and conceited.
Kissing or waltzing, even for man and wife, would be improper in
public, but the exposure of the human body excites no surprise. The
national government is supposed to be modern, and yet only 2 per cent,
of the people--the wealthiest--can vote. Famed for kindness though the
people are, war correspondents declared the brutality of Japanese
soldiers to the Chinese at Port Arthur such as "would damn the fairest
nation on earth." Though the nation is equally noted for simplicity of
living, it is a Japanese banker, coming to New York, who breaks even
America's record for extravagance, by giving a banquet costing $40 a
plate. The people are supposed to be singularly contented, and yet
Socialism has had a rapid growth. The Emperor is regarded as sacred
and almost infallible, and yet the Crown Prince is not a legitimate
son. Although the government is one of the most autocratic on earth,
it has nevertheless adopted many highly "paternalistic"
schemes-government ownership of railways and telegraphs, for example.
The people work all the time, but they refuse to work as strenuously
as Americans. The temples attract thousands of people, but usually
only in a spirit of frolic: in the first Shinto temple I visited the
priests offered me sake (the national liquor) {5} to d